Ed was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa.  During his high school years he played football on a state championship football team and was an all state basketball player.  He also sang and played Emile in South South Pacific his senior year in high school.  He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he majored in government and received his BA degree in 1964.  He lettered in basketball and sang with the Cayuga Waiters while at Cornell.  He then went to the University of Michigan Law School graduating in 1967.  He returned to Des Moines where he has practiced law since 1967, specializing in Education Law and Municipal Bond Law.  He has served as general counsel to Iowa school districts, the Iowa Association of School Boards, the Iowa Association of School Business Officials, and has been bond counsel to Iowa school districts and the State Board of Regents which governs The University  of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.  From 1973 to 1976 he served as a state representative, and has been Chair of the National School Board Association's  Council of School Attorneys and the American Bar Association, State and Local Government Section Education Law Committee.

Ed and his wife Barbara Madden have six children between them  and nine grandchildren.  They have been coming to Grand County for 25 years and when in Grand County live in the condominium development built by his cousins.  They have enjoyed being part of the RMRT audience for that time and as Ed entered retirement he was asked to chair a facilities planning committee.  He now serves as an Advisory Trustee, is chair of the Building Committee, and serves on the Capital Project Finance Committee.

Ed loves to play golf, he sings with the Grand Chorale and the Pride of Iowa Barbershop Chorus and the church choir, and he and Barb enjoy hiking, kayaking, skiing, snow shoeing and camping.